I think this was actually the biggest sports news of yesterday - the Clemens stuff, the Kidd trade/no-trade, even the UofIndiana violations ultimately only affect teams or individuals. If this is what is sounds like, it'll affect leagues.

The current idea would be to create five new teams in major markets to form a "European'' division within the NBA. The teams would play the full 82-game schedule and compete for the NBA championship. But the proposal is new and many factors will influence the eventual outcome, the league source said.

It was inevitable a North American league is going to do this at some point - there's only so may cities to go around that can support teams, and expansion fees are big money to existing teams. I would've guessed it'd be a more completely separate league - like NFL Europe - so teams wouldn't be taking inseason cross Atlantic road trips.

75 new jobs probably sounds great to the players association, but are they going to be willing to live (or be traded) to a team on another continent, possibly speaking another language? Will European fans embrace teams which may be all Americans (or will the NBA insist on local stars on rosters?) And how do you fairly schedule a 35 team league with playoffs?

As a hockey fan at times it's hard to go back to normal NHL regular season after seeing Olympic/World Cup hockey because you got the best hockey players (most top players from their team) playing in this game.